Struggling to create a healthy synergy between OKRs and Agile/Scrum/SAFe? You're not alone. In this session, we provide a high-level overview of OKRs, identify some common OKR usage issues/anti-patterns, and suggest improvements leveraging Lean/Agile principles and practices. You will learn how to organize around value through an OKR lens. We will understand the connection between OKRs, KPIs, Products / Value Streams, and what that means for leveraging OKRs in the different Scrum/SAFe elements. We will discuss how Evidence-based Management (EBM) can amp up OKR empiricism. By the end of this session, you will understand the relationship between OKRs, Agile, Scrum, SAFe, and EBM and have concrete ideas for how to help your organization leverage them in synergy.

1. 1
OKRs and Agile Sitting on a
Tree…
w/ Yuval Yeret

2. Yuval Yeret SAFe Fellow/SPCT | Scrum.org PST |
Business Agility Coach/Trainer |
Professional Scrum w/ Kanban Co-creator & Steward

3. OKRs - An Example using this session’s objective
Objective Key Results
Learn how
to effectively
use OKRs
leveraging
Scrum
Have a high level understanding of OKRs - Why / What / How
Be able to describe and identify at least 3 OKR implementation
challenges you might encounter
Be able to describe success patterns to overcome at least 3 OKR
challenges leveraging Agile/Scrum principles and practices
Bonus: Be able to describe how to use Agile/Scrum practices to
help improve any OKR implementation (including outside of
Agile/Scrum context)
Bonus: Be able to pitch Scrum as a solution to flailing OKR
implementations

4. @ScrumDotOr
g
Overview of OKRs
1
4

5. In order to execute effectively on what
matters most (your strategy), you will
need to …
Overcome:
► silos, politics and turf wars
► the ongoing grind (aka whirlwind)
Through OKRs that provide
► Organizational Alignment
► Focus

6. OKRs - an Alignment Framework
OKRs stand for “Objectives and Key Results.” It is a collaborative
goal-setting methodology used by teams and individuals to set
challenging, ambitious goals with measurable results. OKRs are
how you track progress, create alignment, and encourage
engagement around measurable goals.
source: https://www.whatmatters.com/faqs/okr-meaning-definition-example

7. Why do we need an Alignment framework?

8. Business and Transformational OKRs
Transformational OKR - e.g.
Improving Agility
Business OKR - Building Solutions
to capture unrealized Value

9. @ScrumDotOr
g
2
9
Challenges and Success Patterns with implementing
OKRs

10. Why it matters?
Excessive WIP
● Decreases
organizational
productivity
● Confuses priorities
● Increases context
switching
● Impedes the flow of
value
● Everything is
important == Nothing
is important
#1. Too many OKRs
OKRs…

11. What to do about it
● Not everything needs to be an
OKR!!!
● KPIs - running the business
(Operational Value Stream)
● OKRs - for developing your strategic
differentiators (as measured by
significant impact on a KPI) (in a
Development Value Stream)
● Apply Focus/Flow - Stop Starting
Start Finishing
#1. Focus OKRs on Developing/Growing the Business

12. BTW - What can we also say about the work
to Develop/Grow the Business (vs running
it)?
12

13. OKRs / Development
Value Stream
KPIs /
Operational
Value Stream
13
OKRs typically require
complex work…

14. #2. Output/Activity focused (tasks / milestones) OKRs
Why it matters?
● Remember - OKRs typically live
in the complex domain…
● Fixes specifications designs too
early
● “Feature Factory”
● Impediment to Autonomy and
Innovation
Output-focused OKRs
Objective: Release ALICE v1
Key Results:
● Develop Rear and Side Camera
Distance Warning
● Fix 10 major/critical defects
● ALICE Gold Subscription
● Customer onboarding wizard

15. What to do ? Output-focused OKRs Outcome-focused OKRs Well-formed
Outcome-focused OKRs
Objective: Release
ALICE v1
Objective: Increase
market position within the
autonomous delivery
market
Objective: Achieve a
dominant position within
the autonomous delivery
market
Key Results: Key Results: Key Results:
● Develop Rear and
Side Camera
Distance Warning
● Ability to deliver in
dense metro areas
through parallel
parking
● Increase
serviceable market
to 75% including
dense metro areas
● Fix 10 major/critical
defects
● Improve customer
satisfaction rating
● Increase Net
Promoter Score
from 35 to 60
● ALICE Gold
Subscription
● Focus on driving
repeat business
● Improve repeat
business rates from
60% to 80%
● Customer
onboarding wizard
● Onboard new
customers
● Acquire 15% new
customers over the
next 12 months
1. Identify type of OKR
(awareness of
output-focus)
2. Shift towards
outcome-focus
Objectives and
eventually KRs
Assume Variability - Preserve
Options
Decentralized Control /
Autonomy
Customer collaboration over
Contract Negotiation

16. Bring empiricism into your goal
setting using Evidence-based
Management
Inspecting and adapting HOW (to achieve a
goal)
• what’s needed to achieve a Key Result?
Inspecting and adapting the WHAT/WHY (the
goal itself)
• The relevance of the Key Result or even
the Objective itself

17. #3. Command and Control - Too Detailed, Too Strict, Top-Down
Cascading
Why it matters?
● Strict Cascading
kills Autonomy /
Initiative
● Leads to
task/output
orientation by the
time teams create
KRs
OKR
OKR OKR
OKR
OKR
OKR
OKR

18. What’s the difference between OKRs and MBO?
https://www.whatmatters.com/resources/okr-and-mbo-difference-between

19. OKRs are intended to be an Alignment framework that
leverages autonomy
https://engineering.atspotify.com/2014/03/spotify-engineering-culture-part-1/

20. #4. Alignment != Command & Control
What to do about it
● High-level OKRs
inform rather than
prescribe
● Teams / Teams of
teams define their
own OKRs -
Bottom-up and
sideways
● Align/relate through
“Why Now”
● Take inspiration from
Scrum Sprint
Planning structure
OKR
OKR OKR
OKR
OKR
OKR
OKR

21. #5. Many OKRs require collaboration/dependencies across
the organization
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/improving-focus-alignment-organizing-around-okrs-managing-yuval-yeret
/
Why it matters?
● Coordination
overhead
● Tempting to divide
and conquer /
cascade into
output/task OKRs
(since each
team/product/value
stream cannot own
outcomes)

22. What to do about it
▪ Organize around
Value - Identifying/
Assessing
products/teams
topology using an
OKR lens
▪ Also unlocks
engagement/
motivation through
Purpose
#5. Many OKRs require collaboration/dependencies across
the organization

23. #5. OKRs run in parallel to Scrum artifacts/commitments
Why it matters?
● Confusion - What do we use as Input
for Sprint Planning? PBL? OKRs?
Both?
● When are OKRs created? How? How
do we keep them realistic?
● What’s the relationship between
Product Goals, Sprint Goals and
OKRs?
OKRs (Across the
Business)
Scrum (typically in IT /
Product Development)

24. #5. OKRs run in parallel to Scrum artifacts/commitments
What to do about it
● Use OKRs to guide PBL
management/refinement
● Inspect how you’re doing
on OKRs during Sprint
Review and use that to
adapt the Product
Backlog

25. #5. Leveraging OKRs in the Sprint Review
Or, leveraging a Sprint
Review to inspect and
adapt execution towards
your OKRs…
OKRs KPIs

26. Can we use Scrum/Agile
principles and practices to
improve how our organization
uses OKRs?
Can that help us drive towards
Business Agility and
leveraging Agile/Scrum more
widely across our
organization?
26

27. Follow up
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuvalyeret/
https://www.scaledagileframework.com/applying-okrs-in-the-scaled-a
gile-framework/
https://scaled
agile.com/con
necting-okrs-k
pis-ovss-and-
dvss-in-safe/
Loan
Origination
Credit Scoring
System AI Underwriting
Channels
Core
Bankin
g
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/imp
roving-focus-alignment-organizing-
around-okrs-managing-yuval-yeret/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fixing-o
kr-theater-using-agilescrum-principles-
yuval-yeret/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/improving-f
ocus-alignment-organizing-around-okrs-m
anaging-yuval-yeret/
https://www.scrum.o
rg/resources/eviden
ce-based-managem
ent-guide
https://www.scrum.org/courses/professional-
agile-leadership-evidence-based-manageme
nt-training

28. My Upcoming Public Workshops
28
https://www.madisonhenry.com/public-training/pro
fessional-agile-leadership-ebm-may-1-2023
Including special opportunity to learn about how to
improve/fix your OKRs using EBM and agility
https://www.madisonhenry.com/public-training/pro
fessional-scrum-with-kanban-apr-10-11-2023
use code austin100 for
$100 discount